Batman
Batman is the world's greatest detective. Despite his tragic past, he has overcome all obstacles to dedicate his life to the eradication of crime in his home, Gotham City. Although he has no super-powers, Batman's powers of deduction combined with his obsessive determination combine to make him one of the most feared crimefighters in the world. 'History' 'Early Life' Bruce Wayne was born to the wealthy Wayne family of Gotham City in 1969. As a boy, Bruce Wayne would often watch the television adventures of his fictional hero: the Gray Ghost with his father Thomas.Beware the Gray Ghost Bruce would later take many ideas from this show in the future. On the way home from seeing the film, The Mark of Zorro, eight year old Bruce was witness to his parents being shot by a petty mugger in the slum area that would become known as "Crime Alley".Appointment in Crime Alley Some say that the real Bruce Wayne died that night along with his parents, and in his place, The Batman was born. Young Master Bruce was taken home to Wayne Manor, where he was raised by the Waynes' faithful friend and butler, Alfred Pennyworth. He also found comfort from his father's friend and medical colleague Leslie Thompkins, who was ironically a resident of the neighbourhood where Thomas and Martha were killed. 'Training' Bruce learned many arts and sciences toward the goal of eliminating all the crime that took his parents from him. He learned from masters in their fields, such as escape artistry from Zatara, the master of magicZatanna and various Japanese martial arts from Yoru Sensei.Night of the Ninja While he trained with Zatara to be a master escapist, he and his mentor's daughter Zatanna became very close. Bruce very nearly gave up his plan to become a force for justice in the night when he nearly found happiness with Andrea Beaumont. When Ms. Beaumont walked out of his life, he became even more determined and dove headfirst onto the path of becoming Batman.Batman: Mask of the Phantasm On a night like many others before and since, Bruce sat reliving his parents' murder. While absorbed in this horrific daydream, a bat crashed through the window of his study. It was then that his obsession and plan was given form. He would become the bat, he would be the night and strike fear into those who preyed on the innocent. Using the caverns he discovered below Wayne Manor right before Alfred broke the bad news about Andrea, Bruce built his secret headquarters, the Batcave. 'Batman' During the day, Bruce Wayne is the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and maintains a public image of a millionaire playboy. In fact, Bruce intentionally goes to great lengths to convince others that the self-centered socialite is really his true self. However, by night he patrols the streets of Gotham. Batman arms himself with nothing more than technology, toughness and wits - combined with the virtually unlimited wealth of his company to fund his crimefighting pledge. Batman spent years keeping the people of Gotham City safe from both common criminals and bizarre villains alike. Later, Bruce took in Dick Grayson as his ward after Dick's parents were killed by local gangster Tony Zucco. Batman eventually took Dick as his partner when he found out about Bruce's alter-ego. Dick then took up the mantle of Robin.Robin's Reckoning Part I Batman would then spend years keeping the good people of Gotham City safe from both common criminals and bizarre villains. He had several partners and occasional imitators such as BatgirlShadow of the Bat Part I, but his most common partner was still Robin. 'Crime Fighting' Even with Batman's aid, Gotham is an urban nightmare, every bit as dark and gloomy as the criminals who inhabit it. The city cries out for justice, and Batman is Gotham City's "Dark Knight" who will stop at nothing to restore order to the city and protect it's good honest citizens. However, on his crusade against crime, he encounters various of the most dangerous and deranged criminals, but Batman always manages to overcome adversity. 'Man-Bat' The pharmaceutical companies of Gotham were being stolen by a mysterious Bat-creature and the Gotham City Police Department targets Batman as the most possible suspect. However, Batman's own investigation leads him to Dr. Kirk Langstrom, whose experiments at crossing species have turned him into the fearsome Man-Bat. Batman captured Man-Bat in order to save Langstrom from the mutation and also, he set the record with the police straight and cleared his name in the process.On Leather Wings 'Phantasm' Ten years later after their last meeting, Bruce would be reunited with the woman who almost prevented Batman becoming reality. After being accused of murdering several members of the Valestra gang, Batman was able to determine that the real assassin, The Phantasm, was actually his former love Andrea Beaumont. When he confronted her, while she was in a heated battle with The Joker, she said that vengeance was all she had left before she disappeared with a detained Joker as an abandoned theme park exploded in their wake. Powers and Abilities As a result of his years of intensive physical training, Batman represents the peak of human physical conditioning. Batman is at the highest human levels of strength, stamina, agility, coordination, reflexes, speed, and durability. Even with advances in his age, Bruce still demonstrated that he could manhandle other much younger men with ease. Batman's martial arts discipline was never mentioned, in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Bruce mentions Ju Jitsu. Batman was also a master of stealth and infiltration (all the more remarkable given that he stands 6'2" and weighs 215 lbs), and often revealed himself to his enemies when they least suspected him to. This also allowed him to just disappear from allies in mid-sentence, a habit that frequently annoys the likes of Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Bullock. With his martial arts prowess, occasionally augmented by technology, Batman was usually more than a match for any foe he encountered, human or otherwise. Secret Identity Batman did his utmost to keep his identity a closely guarded secret. However, there were a number of individuals to whom he had either willingly revealed his identity to or whom had discovered it for themselves. Among the most prominent ones are Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Leslie Thompkins, Hugo Strange,The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne Andrea Beaumont, Kyodai Ken and both Talia & Ra's al Ghul.The Demon's Quest Part I Equipment As the head of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne has access to cutting edge technology and Batman makes good use of it in his usual field equipment. *Batsuit - standard as well as heat-resistant, cold-resistant, and underwater versions. *Batarangs - of differing size and effect. These ranged from standard, to explosive, electric, remote, etc. *Grapple Gun - This item assisted Batman in scaling the various buildings of Gotham City. *Utility Belt - Batman's Utility Belt has compartments to hold several items, the contents of which change according to his needs, and often include items such as flashlights, laser cutters, underwater rebreathers, binoculars, a fingerprinting kit, flashbangs, remote controls for his vehicles, acid/base compounds, anti-toxins, mini-computer, and smoke pellets. Vehicles Batman has used several vehicles in the course of his crimefighting career, including: *Batmobile *Batwing *Batcycle *Batboat *Batglider Gallery :see Batman Gallery References External Links * Batman at the Batman Anthology Wiki. * Batman at the DC Cinematic Universe Wiki. Category:Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Bat Family